Collapsible bowling alley



' April 20, 1926.

O. W. BLANCHARD COLLAPSIBLE BOWLING ALLEY Filec} August 5, 1925 JTTOENE'I.

Patented Apr. 20, 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LAPSIBLE BOWLING ALLEY 00.,

INC., 013 ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA.

.COLLAPS IBLE BOWLING ALLEY.

Application med August 3, 1925. Serial' No. 47,986.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OWEN W. BLANCHARD, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Paul,'in the county of Ramsey and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Collapsible Bowling Alleys, of which the following is a speci-. fication.

My invention relates to a collapsible bowling alley and the'object is to provide a port. able and collapsible bowling alley of such construction that it is easily set up for'use in a home, yard or other convenient place and when not in use is readily taken apart in such a manner as to take up a minimum of space for shipping and storage purposes.

In the accompanying drawing: I

Fig. 1 is a plan view of my improved bowling alley in operative position and Fig. 2 is a side elevation'of Fig. 1 showing the pit guard in dotted lines only.

Fig. 3 is a bottom view of thehead orpit frame end of my device folded u I Fig.4 is a bottom viewof adjoining parts of two track sections of the alley and means for clamping the jointtogether, about as on line 4-4 in Fig. 2, and Fig. 5 isan enlar ed edge or. side view of Fig. 4; and some ad ed parts.

1 Fig. 6 is an edge view of one of the telescoping legs of my device.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged sectional detail as on line 7-7 in Fig. 1 showing part of the track and a removable ball trough or gutter.

Fig. 8 is'an enlarged detail view of the member 38 in Figs. 4; and 5.

Referring to the drawing'by reference numerals 10 designates the alley proper, preferably madeof hardwood strips secured on cross cleats. The alley is made in any suitable number of sections the adjoining transverse edges of which are tongued and grooved for close fit. as at 11', best shown in Figs. 1, 2, 4L and 5. The cross cleats are designated as 12 located near the tongued end of each section, a middle cleat 12. and a rear cleat 12 located near the grooved end of each section. V

13 is a quadrangular pit frame covered with a suitable fabric 14. and is supported in horizontal elevated. position by leg frames 15 hinged to the under side of frame 13 as at 16 so as to be foldable under sa d frame as in Fig. 3. 1'? are any suitable t pe of foldable or knee braces secured eac with one end at 17 a to the leg frame and the other end secured as at 17' to the frame 13 (see Figs. 2 and 3). V

Considering the pitframe as the rear end of the bowling alley'the first or rear section 10 of the track, designatedas A in Fig. 1, is laid on the forward'end of said frame with its cleat 12 resting on the forward transversebar of frame 13 and held centrally of said frame preferably by two or more dowel pins 18 fixed in said frame bar. 19 are the usual marks on the alley to indicate where the bowling pins (not shown) are set up in the usual triangular formation. 2 7

Near the rear end of each track section I provide two supporting legs each hinged with its upper "end as at 21 in a suitable shield-like bearing casting 22 fixed at 23 to theunder side of'the track. Said legs comprise each two telescoping members 202O of which 20 is thepivotedsection with a longitudinalfribbed lower end as 20 in Figs. 2 and 6, slidably engaged by a correspondingly groovedpart 20 of the lower section, said latter section havin along slot 24 through which is passed a olt 25 held in the other section and its end projectlng therefrom and carrying a thumbscrew 26. The legs, when in operative position, extend preferablyv downwardly and forwardly to insure stability of each section 10 thus supported. Adjustment of the thumbscrew 26 and leg lengths permit the track to be supported in a true horizontal planeregardless of irregularities in the supporting surface the device is placed on.

At each side of the main alleylO I provide a detachable gutter made in sections of the same length as the alley sections. I These gutters aremade preferably of three hardwood strips2' 7-2 and 27 of WhlCl'l 2,? is horizontal and 27 arranged outwardly of 27 and 27 inwardly thereof, all parallel, but

the latter two (27, 27 in vertical position. Each gutter section is hung by two or more metal brackets 28 secured to the outer sides of said bars, transversely of the direction of the gutter, said brackets each of U-shape and one arm of each extended horizontally thence; downwardly as 28 'to form a tongue adapted to be engaged in a vertical slot 29 of a bracket 29 fixed as at 30 on the edge of, the alley. The. front gutter bracket of each alley section is made deeper than the rear bracket so that the gutters slope down wardly from the pit end to the front and thus the bowling balls may be picked out of the pit, placed in the rear end of either gutter and they will roll forward freely on bar 27 and be guided between bars 27 and 27". At the front end of the front alley section the gutters are provided with a suitable upright 32 secured as at 33 on bar 27 to stop the balls rolled down each gutter. Said uprights may be braced by a cross bar 34 secured on the cross cleat 12 Each pivot member 22 has a central forwardly directed lug 22 with a transverse aperture for pivotal engagement of one end of a V-shaped bail 35 the other end of wh1ch is pivoted in the corresponding opposite lug 22. An eyebolt 36engages the bail with 1ts eyeat the apexof the bail and its threaded end; normally extends away from the bail and is engaged by the threaded bore of a handle 37.- The bail is of such size as to be laid parallel '(under the joint 11) to the alley with its bolt 36 extending beyond the cleat 12 of the next forward alley section.

38 is a hinge-like bracket, one arm of which issec'ured as at 39 to the under side of the track and adjacent each cleat 12 while the other arm is bifurcated as 38 and adapted to bear against the forward side of the cleat with the bifurcated part clear of the cleat (see'Figs. 4 and 5) so that the eyebolt 36 may be laid therein, then handle 37 is turned so as to engage the bifurcated arm thus drawing the alley sections together tight at the joint 11. This form of tightening device I have found to be most efficient but it is obvious that other mechanical means may be used with good results.

40 are stake pockets secured on the upper and'outer sides of each leg member 15 of the pit frame and like pockets are fixed on the rear corners of the frame 13, all said pockets adapted to hold in upright position a. series of suitable stakes 41 to which is suitably secured a strong band of fabric 42 suchas canvas and extendingas from stake 41 to 41 etc., to 41 (Fig. 1) in a U-shape wall to catch the flying bowling pins and stop the bowling balls.

In Fig. 5 I have shown a spring catch 43 secured as at 44 on the cross cleat 12 and having a curved arm43 with a shoulder 43 to catch the outer end of leg 20-20 when the latter is swung under the alley. To release the leg it is only necessary to spring the arm 43*.

The construction of my device having been fully disclosed it might be added further that its size is preferably about one-half to one-fourth the size of a regulation bowling alley, the balls and pins used being in proportion. It is apparent that the same skill in bowling is necessary in the preferred size of my device as in a full size or standard bowling alley.

The adjustable supports for the alley sec tions, the light gutter construction, the fold able pit frame and the highly eflicient assembling means of this device are its main features. All parts are collapsible into the smallest possible space which is important when considering storage space and transportation.

What I claim is: V

1. In a bowling alley comprising a plurality of detachable track sections, a pit frame adapted to support the rear end of the rear track section, extensible legs supporting the front end of each track section and pivotally secured thereto, ball gutters detachably secured to the track sections and arranged in forwardly and downwardly sloping alinement to the front end of the alley, a stop member in each front gutter, a removable flexible guard for said pit frame and arranged in a U-shaped formatlon opening toward the front of the alley; and means for securing the abutting ends of the alley sections firmly together.

2. The structure specified in, claim 1 in which said pit frame comprises a quadrangular horizontally disposed frame and foldable leg frames adapted to support the quadrangular frame in elevated position, and dowels in said pit frame adapted to engage the rear end of the rear track section.

3. The structure specified in claim 1 in which said extensible supporting legs comprise each two telescoping members, one member pivotally secured in a bracket fixed to the under side of the track and adjacent the front end of each section thereof, one bracket located near each side of the track a bail pivotally engaging each such pair of brackets and adapted to be swung toward the next adjacent track section, an eyebolt on said bail, a bracket at the rear end of each track section adapted to be removably engaged by said eyebolt, a handle with a threaded bore adapted to engage the threads of said eyebolt and simultaneously engage said bracket to draw the abutting ends of the track sections together.

4. The structure specified in claim 1 in which said gutters comprises each three parallel strips arranged in U-formation in transverse section, U-shaped brackets supportlng said gutters, an extension on each of said brackets comprising a downwardly cally disposed stake pockets, and said redirected finger, gutter hangers secured on movable pit guard comprises a plurality of 10 the edges of the track sections and each havstakes adapted to engage said stake pockets, ing a vertical aperture adapted to be ensaid guard comprising further a flexible elegaged by a finger of one of said gutter ment secured to said stakes.

brackets or hangers. In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

5. The structure specified in 'claim 1 in I which said pit frame is provided with verti- OWEN W. BLANCHARD. 

